Living Room Chandeliers

Living room chandeliers: wide enough for the main room, or named for it

You see a living room chandelier from across what is often the largest room in the house: from the sofa, the doorway, the armchair by the window. Distance shrinks it, so a fitting that looks generous in a hallway can look lost in a lounge. Every design here earns its place in one of two ways: it measures 70 cm or more across, by diameter or by width on longer shapes, or its name marks it out for a living room or lounge. Whichever test a piece meets, check its listed size against your room before you order.

What width of chandelier suits a living room?

Start with the room itself: take its length plus its width in metres, multiply by eight, and read the result as a starting width in centimetres. A lounge four metres by five comes out just over 70 cm, the mark we use for a main-room fitting. Through-lounges and open-plan spaces will carry more, and many of our living room chandeliers are large or extra-large.

Then check it against the furniture. Over a coffee table, a fitting looks settled when it is a little narrower than the table top. In a long room one round fitting can leave the ends dim, so a linear design, of which we stock a few, or two matching pieces spaced along the room will spread the light better.

Living room chandelier height: headroom, drop and lower ceilings

Where people walk underneath, between the door and the sofa, keep the bottom of the chandelier at least 210 cm above the floor. A typical ceiling of around 240 cm then leaves only about 30 cm for the fitting and its suspension together, so look at shallow designs or at the semi-flush pieces we stock, which sit close to the ceiling. A taller room leaves space for a deeper body or a longer drop.

Above a coffee table, where nobody walks, the chandelier can hang a little lower, close enough to belong to the seating without cutting across the view of the fireplace or television. Compare the listed drop with your own measurement, and ask your electrician whether the chain, rod or cable can be shortened on site.

Placing a living room chandelier: centre of the ceiling or over the seating

The middle of the ceiling works when the room is roughly square and the seating faces inwards. Often, though, the sofa, coffee table and fireplace sit to one side, and a chandelier centred on the room rather than the furniture looks adrift. Centre it on the seating instead; a qualified electrician can move the ceiling point before the fitting goes up.

In an open-plan living and dining space, two fittings usually work better than one. Almost all of our living room chandeliers also suit a dining room, so you can hang one over the sofa and a second in the same finish over the table, leaving clear ceiling between them and putting each on its own switch or dimmer.

Crystal sparkle or alabaster glow in a living room chandelier

From the sofa you look at the chandelier for long stretches, so how it handles light matters as much as its outline. Crystal and clear glass, both of which we stock widely, throw the light back in glints that shift as you move, which suits a traditional or art deco scheme. Alabaster, opal glass and fabric diffuse it into an even glow that is easier on the eyes and sits well in a modern or mid-century room.

Metal features in most of the range, so the finish is where the chandelier meets the rest of the room. We stock silver, chrome, brass, gold, bronze, black and white finishes: pick up a tone already there, in a curtain pole, lamp base, mirror frame or fire surround. Most of our living room chandeliers are modern in style, with many traditional designs alongside industrial, mid-century modern and vintage pieces.

How bright should a living room chandelier be?

Almost all of our living room chandeliers are made for ambient light, the background light the whole room relies on, and the number of lights is a quick guide to output. They run from single-light designs to pieces with ten lights or more, and a large lounge with dark walls wants more light points than a small, pale one. Many take E14 bulbs, others take E27, G9 or G4, and many use integrated LED.

In a room you relax in, turning the light down matters as much as its full strength. Many of our living room chandeliers are dimmable and some are listed as non-dimmable, so check the listing and use a dimmer that matches the bulbs or LED. Many have a warm white colour temperature, and some let you adjust it. Then layer the room: our living room wall lights, floor lamps and table lamps cover reading, dark corners and the softer light you want later in the evening.